Giving a Voice to the Voiceless

In my specialized reporting class at Salisbury University we are charged with creating news packages about relevant stories in the military. One of the topics we were asked to cover was the voice of the voiceless, a piece giving credit to those who are not usually heard. Before we went out in search of our stories, my professor showed us a documentary called The Invisible War in an attempt to push us in the right direction. The film is about the ongoing war against sexual assault in the military and the effects it has on soldiers. The worst part about the situation is that the assaults are all internal and no one is doing anything to prevent it because there is no outside supervision. This story gave a voice to the voiceless and caused a lot of people to open their eyes to the situation and it inspired me when I did my news package on ADHD in the military. While my story isn't as dramatic or controversial as the one depicted in The Invisible War, it outlines the struggle that one person faces concerning his learning disability and it will connect with others that have the same issue. The Invisible War did it's job because the situation is now known to the public and things are being done about it. However, there is still a lot to be done and Michael F. Mathews' article in the New York Times highlights these issues.

Sexual Assault is one of the biggest issues facing the United States military and thousands of cases come across their desk each year. When people think about sexual assault in the military, they rarely think that it effects both males and females. They also probably don't know it happened about 26,000 times last year. These are staggering numbers that have shocked a lot of people into action. Mathews describes in his article the way he was raped and then the consequences of that. It drastically effected his life and because of that he is able to offer useful insight into ways that the military needs to be changed. He says that the reason rape happens so much without anyone doing anything about it is because there is no one outside the military keeping tabs on it. The reason that is such a big problem is because it is in the military's best interest to keep it under wraps so that is what they do. People like Michael Mathews are making the military safer by trying to pass bills such as the Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act that will force these cases to be seen by an outside party. These are the ways to make a change in an ongoing problem and it all stems from one story teller's commitment to giving a voice to the voiceless. What I have come to learn throughout this semester is that these are the stories that deserve to be told because they are the ones that need to be told.

Citizens Can Be The Answer

Military Suicides Hit Record High In 2012

This year 349 soldiers and veterans have died from suicide. Thats almost one a day, more than died in combat all year. In our specialized reporting class at Salisbury University we have been focusing on issues that veterans and soldiers face in the military. Anything from PTSD to a lack of jobs has come up in our discussions but never something as extreme as suicide. As students we try to find stories that are not so bleak and horrible, but those appear to be the stories that bring the most attention to an issue. This is one of those issues that needs to be addressed.

When a statistic comes out saying that more people have died upon returning home from battle than have died in battle, it is staggering. What are we doing to combat this issue? This is a question that has been circulating around the military for years and it's answer comes from citizens. While the military tries to set up ways to combat illness like PTSD before it gets to the point of suicide, citizens have made the biggest contribution. I recently had a conversation with a volunteer from Operation Welcome Home Maryland, an organization that greets every returning soldier and family that comes through the gates at the Baltimore Washington Airport. She told me that they aim to never miss a return and some members will even wait at the gate at two or three in the morning. While this is not a support group, I find it hard to believe that a returning soldier will not be touched by complete strangers thanking them for their service at such an early hour. I think that organizations like these, organizations that have no other goal but to embrace and honor veterans and soldiers, are the most effective. Soldiers have embraced a culture of not talking about their issues and staying tough. Maybe just showing them that regular people appreciate their sacrifice will go a long way in the healing process.

Technology making battlefield safer or more dangerous?

Gun-Toting Robots May Fight Alongside Soldiers in Future Battles

There is new technology being developed that will one day allow for robots to accompany soldiers in war. According to the weapons manufacturer, Northrop Grumman, the robots will be able to carry equipment, fire weapons such as an M240 machine gun, spot an enemy up to 2 miles away and run for 20 hours on 3.5 gallons of fuel. The future has arrived. No longer will soldiers be put in harms way or have to carry their own equipment, they will have machines to do it for them. This is an obvious first reaction to impressive new technology such as this, but does it hide a deeper truth?

                                                                          When new technology comes out, people are often blinded by it's impressive capabilities and the ways in which it will make life easier. Often it does make life easier, but there is a price to pay. The iPhone allowed us to have the capabilities of a computer almost anywhere in the world at anytime. Yet we now see a new generation of people who are becoming more obsessed with cyber space than actual reality (See Video). The point isn't that technology is a bad thing. Without progress, the only option is regression. The point is that technology can often open up a pandora's box of problems that it had originally sought to fix.

The caMEL robot technology that could soon be seen in battle should be able save soldiers lives at first. The other side to this is that soon robots will be a main theme on the battlefield and the only thing more deadly than humans is machines. They are tools that take what humans hold in their imagination and allow it to become a reality. Once it is developed, it would be naive to think that America will be the only country with this form of weaponry. It is like throwing more gasoline on the fire and expecting it to put out the flame. The problem will compound until it becomes a bigger problem. Soldiers could start losing their lives to a mechanized gun sitting 4 miles away from where they stand. It is a deadly cycle of events that in the end only has more people being killed. That doesn't appear to be a concern for the developer of a technology such as this. As a matter of fact that seems to be the overall goal.

Jobs After Combat

Military personnel are some of the most highly skilled and well trained people in the country. They know how to survive for days with limited supplies, how to protect a base from enemy attack and how to adapt to a culture that is not their own. They are disciplined people who could die any day fighting for their country. Then it is all over. They are no longer needed in the military and they come home to a life that they have not known in some time. What's the next option? Getting a job. For most people this has been a work in progress for a few years. Building resumes and making contacts that will hopefully lead to a job once you have graduated from college. This is not the life of a returning soldier. According to Sophie Quinton in her article Why Are Companies Reluctant to Hire Military Veterans, "In 2012, nearly 10 percent of veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan were unemployed, compared with 7.9 percent of the general population." Military veterans are having a hard time finding jobs upon returning from combat because they don't have anything relevant to put on their resumes. That is not to say that they are not very skilled, but it is hard to get a job with a real estate company when your best skill is armed combat. Many employers find it difficult to offer a job to someone who doesn't meet the qualifications. It is the same idea when a job application requirement is 5 years of experience in the given field. How do you get the experience if no one will hire you? I believe that in this situation, with military people coming home from combat, it has to be deeper then what someone can put on a piece of paper. Employers need to realize that these people may not have the experience that will get them a job but they have the discipline to learn. If anyone deserves a chance at a job it should be them.

Denial of U.S. Ally's Citizenship. Good or Bad Call?

U.S. Denys Ally Visa

I came across a story concerning the denial of a U.S. ally's visa that sheds new light on the drastic security measures that America has been forced to implement. The reason Janis Shinwari's (pictured right) story is so interesting to me is because it truly defines where we are as a country right now in terms of national security. This is a man who fought alongside our troops for seven years as a translator and yet we still are unable to grant him access to our country as a citizen. He has fought in armed combat alongside his American comrades and been trusted with their lives and the livelihoods of all Americans yet we are forced to look at him as an outsider who doesn't belong in our community. As bad as it sounds, it is something that we find ourselves forced to confront because of the state that the world is in today. A man who has provided the link to a society that we know little about, his own homeland, is unable to join our community because there is always the lingering threat that he may be a terrorist. Is it racist or are we just carefully protecting our own people? Is Janis Shinwari not just as much of an American as me or you? Is he even more of an American because he was willing to fight with our troops and put the safety of his family on the line just to call himself one of us? These are tough questions and they have no easy answer. Maybe it isn't just him but everybody that must face such tough scrutiny in the world that we live in. My communications teacher Dr. Burns is an American who used to report for CNN and because of his frequent trips to the middle east, he finds himself being searched every time he tries to board a plane. We live in a time of uncertainty where even the most dedicated Americans are sometimes not even actual American citizens. A time where a brave man fighting for a controversial cause against his own people can't be considered an American. I personally can't say I have ever laid my life on the line for the United States which is why I'm sure I owe this country more than Janis Shinwari does. Yet I still enjoy the good life while Shinwari has to look over his shoulder to make sure the Taliban aren't hot on his heals. The paranoid world we live in could be what keeps us out of trouble or it could be the very thing that invites trouble to our doorstep, only time will tell.